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EPA Renews Focus on Somers Superfund Site Following New Detections

Federal agency reviewing potential cleanup needs at former railroad tie plant

By Dillon Tabish
An unidentified sheen seeps onto the north shore of Flathead Lake near Somers on May 4, 2017. Greg Lindstrom | Flathead Beacon

Contamination concerns surrounding an oily sheen along the north shore of Flathead Lake have dissipated, but the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has renewed its focus on the former railroad tie plant and Superfund site in Somers.

Katherine Jenkins, a public affairs specialist with the federal agency, said water samples collected along the shoreline have identified “generally low levels of volatile organic compounds and semi-volatile organic compounds with concentrations of naphthalene and acenaphthene exceeding standards established under the 1989 Superfund Record of Decision for the (Burlington Northern) Somers Former Tie Treating site.”

Naphthalene is made from crude oil or coal tar, or it can also be a byproduct of burning. It is commonly used as an insecticide and pest repellent. It was first registered as a pesticide in 1948. Acenaphthene is a crystalline tricyclic hydrocarbon obtained especially from coal tar and used chiefly as a dye intermediate.

“While there is no indication of widespread contamination along the shoreline or in the lake that would represent a public health risk, these findings underscore the importance of ongoing efforts at the site,” Jenkins said. “EPA has made no conclusions about potential sources … however, these contaminants are potentially associated with former wood treating activities and known contaminants at the (BNSF Railway) Somers site.”

The EPA is working with the Montana Department of Environmental Quality and BNSF Railway to assess conditions in the area and undergo a feasibility study to evaluate cleanup needs and actions for the site, expected early next year, Jenkins said.

Attention has refocused on the section of lakeshore near Somers after residents reported an unknown sheen along the shoreline earlier this month. An investigation focused along a section of shore spanning roughly 1,000 feet. The EPA notified BNSF, which owns adjacent property, including the former Somers tie plant, an 80-acre site about 1,200 feet from the lake’s shoreline where wooden railroad ties were chemically treated for nearly a century before a lengthy environmental cleanup occurred.

Last week the Flathead City-County Health Board approved a resolution petitioning the Montana Department of Natural Resources and Conservation to extend the boundary limiting well usage in and around the Somers plant because of two underground plumes that continue to slowly grow with fluctuations in groundwater.

Joe Russell, the department’s public health officer, said site samples were collected a year ago that showed contaminated product was moving underground north and east from the designated Superfund site. The new controlled groundwater boundary would impact three private property owners. Russell said the three property owners are aware of the process. He expects the extended boundaries to take effect within a year.

Russell said he’s holding back any pre-judgment about the possible contamination lingering from the Somers Superfund site, but he is confident the EPA will identify and remedy potential cleanup needs in light of the recent detection.

The level of contaminants recently detected is low but still important and worth addressing, he said.

“These are harmful chemicals. We need to make sure we understand what we’re dealing with. The (1989 record of decision) set those exceeding standards extremely low but they did for one reason: to trigger a response if necessary,” he said. “And that’s what’s happening.”

He continued, “Is there any human health exposures right now? Probably not. But do we want to make sure we don’t get any in the future? Absolutely.”

Jenkins said the EPA has made no determinations regarding the source of the original sheen, which has since dissipated with rapidly rising lake levels.

BNSF Railway collected water and soil samples that identified low levels of contaminants from an unknown source, as well as the sheen, which is very likely biological in nature, according to BNSF.

“Based on BNSF field studies and analytical test results, BNSF is confident the source of the sheen was biological in nature,” Ross Lane, BNSF spokesperson, said. “Out of caution and at the direction of EPA, we removed the material with paper towels and a vacuum and continue to monitor the area. However, we have no further activities planned for the location where the sheen was spotted. The very low levels of contaminants detected could have come from a variety of sources including motorized boat use on the lake and natural processes.”

He continued, “With respect to the former Somers Tie Plant, we are continuing to work with EPA and Montana DEQ on any potential further activities.”

From 1901 until 1986, the Great Northern Railway and its successor Burlington Northern operated a major tie plant on 80 acres in Somers. The facility was the railroad giant’s only supplier of treated ties in the West. For two decades during its peak, the Somers site was producing 600,000 ties per year.

The treatment process was messy business, producing constant wastewater and chemical dribble from the ties. Thousands of pounds of sludge piled up over the years, and an untold amount of wastewater was released into a lagoon at the south end of the property, about 1,200 feet from Flathead Lake. Overflow from the lagoon discharged through an open ditch directly into the lake or accumulated at a new pond that formed in the swampy area near the lake.

It was designated for cleanup through the federal Superfund program in 1984. By May of 1985, the EPA and BNSF Railway, the successor of Great Northern and Burlington Northern railroads, agreed on an emergency environmental action to address the swamp pond immediately next to the lakeshore. An investigation found the area posed “an imminent and substantial hazard to Flathead Lake because of the presence of heavy creosote contamination in the water and soil located within 20 feet of the shoreline,” historical EPA documents say.

In 1989, the EPA published its Record of Decision outlining the $12 million cleanup project at the site, including excavating and treating 11,700 cubic yards of contaminated soil and sediment.